Military Academy Denies Accusations Islamists Control Admissions

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- The head of Egypt’s military
academy defended its admission of Islamist students amid
allegations the government is trying to impose its Islamist
agenda on the armed forces, state-run Ahram gate reported.

Major General Essmat Mourad said admission is not
influenced by politics or religion, the newspaper reported
today. At the same time, “I won’t reject an applicant just
because his father is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,”
Mourad was cited as saying, referring to the party that backed
President Mohamed Mursi’s election last year.

Academy graduates are commissioned as military officers.
Critics of Mursi’s government have warned that ruling Islamists
will try to overrun the military and police by stacking their
academies with Islamist students.

In recent weeks, policemen across the country have rallied
to protest what they call the politicization of the force.